Jacksonville doctor sentenced to 5 years for receiving child pornography

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — A Jacksonville physician was sentenced to five years in federal prison and 10 years of supervised release for receiving images and videos of child pornography over the Internet, following an investigation by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office (JSO).

Robert Davis Williams, 45, pleaded guilty on March 14.

Immediately after the sentencing hearing, Williams was remanded into the custody of the U.S. Marshals Service.

According to court documents, on Oct. 21, 2009, JSO received a complaint regarding possible child pornography at the residence of Williams. JSO officers responded to the residence, and detectives were shown a video file on a desktop computer belonging to Williams which depicted child pornography.

With the consent of an occupant of the residence (the complainant), the detectives searched the residence and discovered hundreds of compact disks and DVDs containing pornography in the house and garage, along with hundreds of adult magazines.

The search also revealed numerous floppy disks, zip disks and VHS videotapes which contained pornography. Although many of the videos were commercially produced adult pornography, most of the videos had been made or copied on a home computer.

Detectives examined Williams' computer and discovered an open folder on the desktop monitor which displayed several videos depicting child pornography. The detectives took custody of the computer, a digital camera and memory card, 41 VHS videotapes, 697 compact disks and DVDs, 62 floppy disks and two zip disks.

On Oct. 26, 2009, acting at the direction of JSO detectives, the complainant placed a recorded telephone call to Williams. During this conversation, Williams admitted, among other things, to downloading child pornography and apologized for his "sickness." Williams admitted that he was hiding the child pornography from the complainant because he was "too ashamed and embarrassed," further indicating that he would download pornography using peer-to-peer networks.

A subsequent search of Williams' computer revealed approximately 113 videos and 93 images of child pornography on his computer system and the compact disks.

The investigation was part of Operation Predator, a nationwide ICE initiative to identify, investigate and arrest those who prey on children, including human traffickers, international sex tourists, Internet pornographers, and foreign-national predators whose crimes make them deportable.

ICE encourages the public to report suspected child predators and any suspicious activity through its toll-free hotline at 1-866-DHS-2ICE and its online tip form. Both are staffed around the clock by investigators.

Suspected child sexual exploitation or missing children may be reported to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, an Operation Predator partner, at 1-800-843-5678 or http://www.cybertipline.com.